1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a unitary probe assembly for semiconductor chips provided with built-in microelectronic components. More particularly, it relates to an improved unitary probe assembly adapted to inspect semiconductor chips each provided with electrode terminals not only at the periphery thereof but also at an inner surface area thereof.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Semiconductor chips were conventionally provided at the peripheries thereof with electrode terminals, from which lead wires were extended. There is however a tendency to provide a suitable number of electrode terminals at an inner surface area of a semiconductor chip so as to permit the inspection of characteristics at the inner surface area as well as the extension of lead wires from such an inner surface area.
A unitary probe assembly, which has been employed for the inspection of such recent semiconductor chips, is generally constituted by a group of probes which are brought into contact at the free ends thereof to corresponding electrode terminals disposed at the periphery of each chip and another group of probes which are adapted to contact at the free ends thereof with electrode terminals disposed inwardly of the former electrode terminals. These probes are arranged around an opening of a block attached to a board. In the block, these probes are disposed in separate layers in accordance with the groups, thereby being arranged in the form of a plurality of layers. Accordingly, it was very time-consuming to fabricate such a conventional unitary probe assembly as the disposition of the probes had to be done layer by layer sequentially by, for example, fixing the probes in the first layer around the opening of the block with an epoxy resin and then, after the resin had hardened, placing the probes in the second layer on the thus-hardened epoxy resin and securing the latter probes in place with the same epoxy resin. Furthermore, the prior art probe assembly was accompanied by another drawback that the block became inevitably thicker, since the probes were arranged in a multiplicity of layers and in some instances stereoscopically crossed with one another, thereby requiring to increase the distance betweeen each two adjacent probe layers to a certain extent in order to avoid any contact between probes per se.